Hello again, everyone, and welcome to Chapter 3. It does my heart good to hear that even despite my lack of confidence in the last chapter, you all still seemed to enjoy it and were roped in by the mystery I've been trying to put together. I can only hope this chapter can manage to do that again for you all. So without further ado, here it is and I hope you all enjoy it.
Zootopia and its characters ae property of Disney, not me.
"So, remind me, WHY is it exactly the chief ISN'T coming with us this time?" Nick asked in a semi-skeptical tone while Judy continued to drive their cruiser through the bustling streets of the Rainforest District.
"He said he needed to go over the evidence we found yesterday with someone important, so that's why we need to check out this next crime scene on our own," Judy explained bluntly; clearly just as disappointed that Chief Bogo was essentially dropping the two of them into what could've been a right mess without any other kind of support.
"I'll bet you five bucks it's whatever city hall bigwig that roped him into taking this case to begin with," Nick piped in with a barely visible smirk while their cruiser slowly drifted off the freeway.
"Well, no matter who it is, we have our job for the day; so let's at least try to go into it with SOME optimism this time," Judy asked as Nick just looked at the somewhat pleading look on her face. Just knowing they were already having a no-doubt difficult investigation to start off their day was leaving his partner in not the best of moods he'd seen her in, so this was clearly her asking him to try and at least help her out on an emotional level. Knowing he couldn't rightly say no, he let out a defeated-sounding sigh before leaning back into his chair.
"Okay, Carrots. If it'll help, I'll scour the place for clues even if I have to make some up, just so we don't end up going back empty-pawed," he assured her as she gave him a faint yet grateful smile in return.
"Thank you, Nick. I mean, don't actually do that, but the sentiment's appreciated regardless," she thanked him as their urban surroundings soon gave way to a largely spread out industrial setting.
It wasn't long after till they found themselves outside the gates of the largest cargo port along the river that ran through the Rainforest District. Aside from the couple massive freight ships docked on opposite sides and the handful of cargo crates dotted around, the port was almost eerily empty; save for a few massive storage warehouses, the towering cranes, the security office, and the huge column of white smoke billowing from a distant corner that could be seen even from outside the fences.
"Well, looks like I can cross out the possibility of our culprit not being the attention-seeking type," Nick said with an impressed whistle before his and Judy's attention was caught by a knocking at their cruiser window; where they were met by a dirtied boar in a ZFD uniform.
"Excuse me, officers, but unless you've got some kind of clearance, you can't be here. We're still in the middle of sealing off the area from the public, so—" "Let them through, Boarkowski. I got the call from HQ a few minutes ago. They're here for the investigation," the boar began to wave them off before he was suddenly interrupted by a fellow llama firefighter who began to wave their cruiser forward through the gate.
"Thank you, sir. Any idea what we're looking at here?" Judy asked as she pulled the cruiser over while the llama began making his way toward the distant plume of smoke.
"Well, I'm mainly here to keep the perimeter secure and keep the press and the public out, Officer Hopps. It hasn't been easy, and I gotta get back to the gate before they try to get in again. Our sergeant's further up ahead. He can give you all the details," the llama said apologetically before he began backtracking while Judy and Nick decided to keep going towards the smoke. With every step, they could feel a steadily building sweltering heat. It gave them both a very foreboding feeling, as if they were about to step into the remnants of a real war zone that would once more give them nothing to work off of.
As they rounded a corner of the nearest warehouse, they were immediately assaulted by a nearly suffocating stench of melted rubber, smoke, ashes and what had to be burnt gasoline. Once they'd finally managed to get at least semi-used to the smell, they were met with what looked like the site of a major bomb explosion.
Having consumed what had to be a quarter of the warehouse and the parking lot for it as well was a colossal blast site; peppered with the remains of what looked like half a dozen of the fuel trucks that were used to refuel the ships that docked here. ZPD and ZFD officers alike were scouring the scene and taping it off while giving instructions to each other to search different parts of the port or to report to their respective HQ's or at least to head to different entrances to the ports to keep up the cordon to keep the press at bay. Honestly, if the explosion had been as huge as this destruction indicated, Nick and Judy couldn't help but be amazed that the press hadn't gotten all over this much sooner.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I would love to see how the chief's gonna calm the press after THIS," was all Nick could think to say as Judy already began making a beeline for the scene; prompting him to quickly follow after her, only faltering when he noticed shards of what had to be the truck's fuel tanks embedded into the side of the warehouse. It definitely made him grateful they'd actually missed the action again this time.
"I assume you're the two officers Chief Bogo told me to expect?" they were suddenly greeted by a grizzled-looking black bear that seemed to come out of nowhere from the smoky haze. Even from a glance, they could tell this firefighter not only had some serious experience behind him, but that he looked utterly exhausted, and didn't even need to guess why.
"That's right, sir. What all can you tell us about what happened here?" Judy uniformly asked as though she were on autopilot as she already had notepad and pen out on sheer reflex; not even noticing the momentary look in the bear's eyes that looked as though he were silently asking 'could you be more specific' sarcastically.
"*sigh* A right ol' mess; that's what happened. We got the call a little after midnight last night, and we only managed to get the fire put out barely an hour ago. All the fuel trucks suddenly go up after they're brought in for the night; nearly wake up every citizen in a five mile radius, and we're brought here to put out the biggest oil fire I've seen in years. If you're gonna be looking for some kind of evidence, good luck. It'd be a miracle if anything in that warehouse that got caught in the blast hasn't been reduced to cinders by now."
"So you weren't able to uncover anything that might've started the fire?" Judy asked as the bear just let out another exhausted sigh before looking back at all the smoldering wreckage.
"Not a thing. Those flames were going so hot, it could've turned the sand at Sahara Square into glass. If there was anything like a gas leak that could've started it, we're not gonna find any trace of it on the ground or the wreckage. Like I said, it's a miracle we were able to put this thing out as fast as we were, and thank goodness this happened as late as it did. If this had happened when this place is usually bustling, we'd have been looking at who-knows how many injured, or even worse," the firefighter reiterated, all while Nick was still observing the sheer scope of all the damage to the warehouse in astonishment.
"Did anyone check to see if maybe the security cameras caught anything suspicious?" she asked upon looking up to see the cameras mounted on the legs of the cranes were at least high up enough not to get destroyed by the explosion.
"We've been spending the last few hours getting the fire put out and securing the area. But one of your buddies did radio in finding a security guard stuffed into a locker in their office. They haven't taken him away for a medical check-up yet, so I'd say that's your best bet," the bear explained while a spark of inspiration shimmered in Judy's eyes at this thankful new lead. For once, an actual witness!
"C'mon, Nick, maybe they can tell us something," Judy instructed with barely restrained excitement while she began to dash for the security office; only stopping once she noticed Nick wasn't at her side as he usually was.
"Find anything unusual, partner?" she asked the fox curiously once she noticed he was still looking over the massive hole in the side of the warehouse and the extent of the interior damage.
"Not yet, but I've barely even gotten started looking. I just couldn't help but take in the scope of the damage is all. Hey, why don't you go follow up on that security guard lead while I keep on searching out here and see if I can find anything?" Nick suggested, momentarily catching Judy completely off guard.
"A-are you sure, Nick? I mean, no offense, but you've never conducted an investigation by yourself before," she asked hesitantly while Nick gave her a good-humored shrug of his shoulders.
"True, but ultimately neither have you, Carrots. Besides, the rookie fox has gotta take the proverbial training wheels off some day," he explained; to which Judy couldn't help but sigh before giving a single nod of agreement and a warm smile of understanding.
"Okay, Nick. Just…please, be careful. If you find anything of note, I'll keep my radio on so you can reach me," she explained before flipping on the power to the radio holstered at her hip for emphasis; prompting Nick to do the same while smiling with gratitude. With nothing more to be said, the otherwise inseparable partners went their separate ways for their respective investigations.
It wasn't long before Judy reached the solitary security office nuzzled up against one of the larger warehouses in the center of the port; complete with a couple fellow ZPD officers standing guard outside the door who immediately stood at attention upon noticing her.
"One of the ZFD officers told me you found a security guard in one of the lockers. Is he still in there?" she asked the rhino officer she recognized as McHorn from the bullpen every morning.
"That's right, Hopps. His name's Leonard Durdan. He looked like he took a nasty blow to the back of the head when we found him, so we already got him taken care of, but Delgado called in an ambulance to come pick him up for a full look over anyway. Considering everything we've got here, it looks like he's our only witness, so if you wanna ask him anything, now's your chance," McHorn explained before stepping aside to let her through. With a deep breath, Judy was already making her way inside with an invigorated spring in her step.
"Hey, Hopps, where's Wilde at? I didn't think you two were even separable," the tiger officer named Delgado suddenly called after her once it had clicked in his and McHorn's heads what had been wrong with this picture.
"He volunteered to keep investigating the fire site to see if he could find anything. I'd say you could help him out, but I think he really wants to try his paw at it alone this time," she explained before she was already around the corner and out of sight; soon stepping into a cramped little security office adorned with a wall of monitors numbering enough to possibly cover the entire port, occupied only by a lion resting in his chair with some bandages wrapped around the top of his head.
"Hello, officer. Is the ambulance here already?" the lion security guard asked as he rubbed the back of his head in pain.
"I'm afraid not yet, Mr. Durdan. I'm Officer Judy Hopps, and I just have some questions I'd like to ask you regarding this case," she stated apologetically before Durdan motioned for her to take the one empty chair opposite him before leaning back with another pained groan.
"That sounds pretty bad, if you don't mind me saying so. If this is too much trouble, we can see about maybe asking you at a later time," she offered before he just waved her concerns off with a wave of his paw.
"Nah, don't worry about it, Officer Hopps. Yeah, it's a bit painful, but this isn't the first blow to my noggin I've taken, and I doubt it'll be the last. I don't know if there's much I can tell you, but I'd be happy to help however I can," he reassured her; earning an understanding nod before she pulled out her trusty notepad once again.
"Alright, why don't we start at the beginning? Can you tell me the last thing you remember before you woke up in the locker?" she asked while Durdan looked to be deep in reminiscent thought.
"Well, after the last ships pull into the port at night, that's around the time the fuel trucks finally start to return from their refueling so we can refill the ships and they can set off come morning. I'm typically the night guard, so my rounds don't typically start until the last truck pulls in so that way I know not to expect anyone else to come in through the gate. I was mainly hanging around here, watching the monitors every now and again just waiting for all ten of the trucks to have pulled in. I remember it was just a little past 11:30 when the last truck pulled in, so that's when I started my patrol rounds.
"Hardly anything ever happens around here that's out of the ordinary, so I was just going through the motions while I was out there. The whole place was as quiet as it usually was, and I pride myself on having exceptional hearing, so that should tell you something about whoever did all…well, THAT out there, because I didn't even hear them come up behind me before they knocked me out. Not to state the obvious, but you can clearly see how big I am; whoever it was would've had to be just about the same size, and yet they were able to get the drop on me just like that. Just, the next thing I know, and I take this huge blow to the back of my head and I'm out right then.
"I don't even know how long it was before I woke up, but I just remember waking up to find myself stuffed into my locker with my paws cuffed behind my back. Wasn't even two hours ago your friends out there heard me calling for help and finally got me out and helped stitch me up."
This was a lot for Judy to have to take into consideration. Yes, Durdan here was as big as lions could be expected to be, and the thing about larger mammals was they moved around loudly whether they intended to or not; so for someone about the same size to have managed to sneak up on him without a sound was nothing short of surprising and more than a little worrying. More and more she liked the idea of this mystery arsonist running loose less and less.
"I realize how unlikely this is, but I just need to make sure we go over every possibility. Do you think it's possible this fire might've been started by a group of any kind? Is there any chance anything illegal might've been happening here without your knowledge, and it might've attracted some unwanted attention?" she asked; silently chastising herself all the while for asking something so pointless. Every natural instinct in her gut was telling her this had to be the same individual that did the apartment fire yesterday, but her cop instincts kept telling her to follow every possibility. For how little she really knew about the organized crime element in Zootopia, namely one Mr. Big, the idea of maybe his own organization pulling something like this against some kind of competition trying to make their way in through the port didn't seem unlikely by any stretch of the imagination.
"That's not possible, Officer Hopps. I've been working here for nearly nine years now, and I've never seen anything even remotely sketchy come through here. We're the biggest port in Zootopia; we're where all the imported foods, goods and pretty much everything else you buy in every store and restaurant come in through. If some kind of illegal smuggling was going on here, not only would I have found out about it, but you would've too, believe me. I don't know WHO went and did this, but I can nearly guarantee some kind of mob action isn't possible," Durdan explained with a surprising amount of conviction, as though he truly believed and stood by every word. Part of her almost wanted to call him out on it and see if he was trying to hide anything, but that nagging little voice in her head convinced her he had to be telling the truth.
"Alright; well how about the security cameras? They have to record everything, maybe they got a look at the culprit in the act," she suggested. With a reluctant sigh, Durdan flipped on the monitors to reveal nothing but static.
"That was my first idea too once I came back to my senses. Whoever we're dealing with here really knows how to cover their tracks, because all the security tapes were stolen," he explained regretfully when seeing Judy's optimism quickly fade.
"I see. Well, I wish there was more I could ask you to tell me, Mr. Durdan, but if the tapes are missing and you never got a look at the culprit, that doesn't really leave me with much to go on," she said in defeat; slipping her notepad back into her pocket.
"I should apologize, Officer Hopps. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help to you," the lion apologized in return as she gave him a slight appreciative smile on her way out the door.
"No, no, what you were able to provide is appreciated as it is, sir. I'm sure my partner may be able to come up with something too. I trust the medics will take good care of you, Mr. Durdan," she reassured him in her farewell just as the ambulance finally began to pull in through the gate.
"Wait! I just remembered something," Durdan suddenly called after her; causing her to almost literally spin on her heels while trying not to look overly eager.
"I'm not sure what you can do with this, but I just remembered there was something strange I'd noticed right before I got knocked out. I don't know why, but I suddenly caught wind of this strange…I guess I'd call it lavender-esque scent. I'm sorry again, but that's all I remember that really stands out," the lion explained, and while it was certainly a nice little detail for her to know, it sadly still didn't give her anything to go on.
With a heavy and frustrated sigh, Judy pulled out her radio as the paramedics made their way past her to tend to the security guard. She knew she had to keep a straight head on her shoulders here, but this serious lack of any real leads was really starting to wear on her nerves.
"Hey, Nick, it's me. The security guard lead wasn't able to really give me anything useful. How are things looking on your end?" she asked while silently hoping for some kind of breakthrough, or at the very least a clue.
"Well, you don't need to worry anymore, Carrots. I was just about to call you. Meet me back at the fire site. I think I've got something," her partner's voice rang out, and all at once her ears perked right back up and she nearly took off sprinting in eagerness to see what Nick had found.
She was back at the site of the truck fire in nearly a minute flat; instantly greeted by her partner standing tall with a greatly satisfied, even proud grin on his face.
"Alright, lay it on me, partner. What've you got?" she asked as Nick motioned her to follow him further into the smoldering wreckage.
"Alright. First off, there wasn't any sign of anything shady going on inside the warehouse, so some kind of inter-organization conflict's out of the question. Half the cargo that got destroyed in the blast was common produce. But anyway, I wasn't able to find any paw prints or strands of fur left behind here just like last time, unless forensics comes up with something once they get here. BUT, take a look at what I found near one of the wheel wells," Nick explained just as he reached one of the half-melted wheel wells the furthest from the fire epicenter.
At first, Judy was having trouble finding anything peculiar about it before Nick suddenly took a pen from his pocket and quickly ran the end of it across the melted steel; revealing a very familiar ash-laden jelly hanging from it. All at once, Judy's optimism flared right back up. Finally, a connecting lead; investigative paydirt.
"Any idea where this might've come from within the site?" she asked as Nick pointed closer to the center of the wreckage.
"If we assume the explosion happened with the center truck, I'd say it came from somewhere in there. But I don't need to assume, because check this out," he explained further while trying to keep his own excitement in check as he and Judy went further in, and upon reaching the piled up wreckage, Judy instantly noticed the same glistening jelly substance just barely visible among all the ash and incinerated stone forming a thin line from the epicenter.
"You think our culprit actually set it up so that the fire would burn a trail here and cause the explosion long after he'd left the scene?" she asked in the hopes they were once more on the same wavelength as Nick pointed towards a further corner of the port a good ways away.
"That'd be the only answer that makes sense to me. But get a load of this," he answered as he then guided her to just a few feet outside the furthest edge of the blast area; pointing out another thin trail of what actually looked like unignited jelly heading further and further away towards the distant warehouse tucked into the corner.
"At first I thought this might mean the arsonist actually messed up and missed some of their own fuel when finally starting the fire. But the further I looked, the more I realized he did all this on purpose," Nick elaborated while Judy nearly looked like she was ready to tackle the fox with joy that he'd finally found something that could legitimately help them.
"Please, stop leaving me in suspense here, Nick. What else did you find?" she asked excitedly as they finally followed the trail all the way to the warehouse entrance. Inside was nothing but a few scattered piles of crates and a few beams of sunlight filtering in through a series of holes in the roof. Without wasting any more time, Nick motioned for Judy to follow him further.
The sounds of their steps echoing against the rusted walls almost gave the warehouse an eerie feel to it, but the two partners' mutual excitement at their mysterious new find blocked out anything else. Once they'd reached the opposite end of the warehouse, they were met with what looked like the jelly trail ending in a deliberately painted arrow pointing toward a single smoldering steel drum standing in front of them with faint wisps of smoke curling out from inside.
Wasting no time, Judy peered over the edge of the barrel; only for her ears to drop in record time. Smoldering in their own ashes, only able to be identified by the half-melted plastic wheels that would help play the film, were what had to be all the stolen security tapes. And with it, any chance of catching a glimpse of their mystery arsonist.
"He's taunting us. He has to be. He knows we're following him, and he's laughing at us now that he's covered his tracks again," she muttered in frustration to herself before Nick tilted her head up by her chin to look at him as he surprisingly wasn't the least bit deterred.
"As much as I'm sure you'd like to keep brooding, Carrots, that's not what I brought you here to see. Get a look at THAT," Nick reassured her before he turned her little body to behold two large black spots that looked to be spray-painted on the opposite wall, illuminated by the beams of light coming from the two largest holes in the ceiling.
"Our little firebug had this whole location planned out. As for what these spots mean, your guess is as good as mine, but it's something, right?" he asked as Judy quickly made note of it. Unfortunately, she couldn't even hazard a guess what it was.
"I'd almost want to guess it's his way of making some kind of tally, but it's as solid a lead as anything else we've got so far," she admitted before the two made their way back outside.
"You did great finding all this, Nick. I'm really proud of you. But I'm curious, how were you able to find this trail among all that burn damage in the first place?" she finally asked her partner after complimenting him; which of course caused her partner to rub the back of his head with a slightly-shy grin before he quickly slipped back into professional-mode.
"Wasn't easy, I'll tell you that much. All that smoke and that stench of burnt gas and melted rubber, it was like I couldn't breathe OR see in the middle of all that. But once I got far away enough to at least breathe, I caught this strange…lavender-like scent. The more the smell got stronger, that's when I found the trail, and that's when I found out that jelly was where the smell was coming from."
All at once, Judy nearly sprung up into the air at this miraculous little tidbit. After what felt like spending all morning having every possible clue or lead get shot down, at long last, SOMETHING they could latch onto.
"Oh, YES! Way to go, Nick! You just got our first real lead! C'mon, we gotta head back to the ZPD and tell Chief Bogo now!"
Later at the ZPD…
It was nearly a miracle Judy DIDN'T kick the revolving doors down to get into the ZPD if the excitement on her face was any indication. Sure, the lead of the culprit and their tools sharing the same scent wasn't the strongest clue in the world, but after how the rest of the morning had gone, she wasn't going to just brush it off. All the while, Nick was still following his partner at his own pace; simply grinning in amusement at her never-faltering enthusiasm even after two whole years.
Not that he could really blame her. He wanted this lead to be as useful for them just as much as she did. At least that could give him the hope they could bring the culprit to justice and maybe this nagging sense of worry that had silently been weighing down on him could fade away.
"Oh hey, talk about perfect timing; I was just about to call you two. Chief Bogo wants to see you in his office right now," Benjamin Clawhauser called out to them from his typical spot behind the lobby desk. The two partners stopped in their tracks in surprise before quickly picking the pace back up again.
"Try not to get your hopes up too high there, Carrots. I seriously doubt the chief's got anything to give us, he probably just wants an update and we just have timing on our side," Nick tried reasoning with his partner right before they rounded the corner lead to Bogo's office.
"Well, being pessimistic about it isn't going to help, either. Please at least TRY to believe we might work this case out, Nick," Judy mildly scolded the fox just as they reached the door; the rabbit nearly forgetting to knock at the last fraction of a second.
"Come in," the chief's authoritative voice beckoned from inside just before her paw met the door, and with no further ado, the two partners made their way inside.
They were instantly greeted by Chief Bogo's familiar hulking mass seated behind his desk, but he wasn't alone. He was actually accompanied by an equally massive and even more imposing bull in a very fine-looking pinstriped suit standing, or rather towering, over their two new arrivals. He looked like he could easily have bench-pressed the chief and his desk all together, and yet despite his overwhelming stature, he had a look on his face that seemed naturally disarming to the two otherwise surprised and even wary ZPD officers.
"Hopps, Wilde, go ahead and take a seat. I suppose I should introduce you. This is—" "Oh please, Bogo, you don't have to go so far out of your way, I can handle the formalities too. I'm Viktor Bullba, at your service. I've heard so much about you two; it really is an honor to finally meet you in person, Officers Hopps and Wilde," the chief began before being interrupted by the almost jovial sounding bull; not even noticing the shocked looks on Judy and Nick's faces once he'd introduced himself.
Of all the individuals in Zootopia they'd meet on this job, probably the frontrunner for city senator had to be one of the last they'd expected.
"Oh, s-sir! The honor's all ours! I-I really appreciate and support everything you're trying to do for the city and the people," Judy exclaimed while hopping to her feet before offering a respectful salute to the large bull. All the while, despite looking slightly surprised at his presence, Nick looked far less star struck; which unfortunately Bogo seemed to notice as quickly as Bullba did.
"Wilde, get on your feet and show some respect! Don't you know who—?" "Ah, don't worry about it, Bogo. It takes a heck of a lot more than the silent treatment to even TRY and get under my hide. Officer Wilde here's just sticking to his guns. Bet there's not a whole lot of confidence around here in politicians, huh? Don't worry; I can appreciate making your opinions clear. But I can assure you I'm aiming to make a REAL difference for the people," Bullba reassured the chief with a casual wave of his hoof before placing a firm yet respectful hold on Nick's shoulder; that inviting all-too camera-friendly grin never leaving his face.
"Well, who could ever doubt someone with a smile THAT bright, sir? Am I right? So, what brings you all the way down here from on high?" Nick asked with such a casual tone, it almost looked like Chief Bogo was going to have an aneurism from the barely restrained lack of professionalism. But just like before, Bullba seemed to diffuse any kind of tension with a hearty laugh of amusement.
"Ha, I like your wit, Mr. Wilde. If only my campaign runners had a sense of humor like yours. But to answer your question, Chief Bogo actually invited me here. Said he had some evidence he'd found yesterday that he thought I should look at. I only just managed to get here after all those boring meetings earlier as it were," Bullba explained; not even noticing the mutual looks of surprise on Judy and Nick's faces. Or rather, the surprise was entirely on Judy, and Nick only had a self-satisfied grin that practically screamed 'called it.'
"You mean you're the one that directed the chief to this arson case, Mr. Bullba? Forgive me for prying, but I don't really see why a little apartment fire would concern you," Judy pointed out while Bullba sat himself comfortably on Bogo's desk, deep in thought.
"Well, you've no doubt heard over the news how I was a veteran of the ZFD, right? Well, I guess you could say old habits die hard. Sometimes in my down time, I like to listen in on the old ZFD frequencies to hear if any fires have broken out. Say what you will, but it can't help but make me remember the good old days. But when I heard about THIS particular fire in Sahara Square with no sign of intrusion, a gas leak or even faulty electric wiring, needless to say my interest was piqued. So I figured it wouldn't hurt to follow up on it, so I asked ol' Bogo here to check it out and tell me what he found."
"Yes, and speaking of which, I think it's about high time I told you. The landlord for those apartments was at the scene, and he let us hang onto the profile he had for the last tenant who lived at the very same one that burned. Take a look at this," Chief Bogo quickly piped in, far from in the mood for any more idle chit chat as he pulled out the document on the mountain lion Reggie Aslani and quickly handed it over to Bullba.
"Is…I-is this right? Was he absolutely sure HE was the one that lived there?" Bullba asked in mild disbelief the instant he saw the rugged mountain lions face and name. However, Bogo just let out a heavy sigh and put his hooves together; his normally intimidating gaze now showing nothing but psychological exhaustion.
"He gave me his word it was correct. I'm afraid it's just as you feared, Viktor," Bogo confirmed; prompting the powerful bull to collapse into a chair of his own; looking at the photo with almost a hint of reminiscence.
"Excuse me, Mr. Bullba? You don't have to answer if you don't want to right now, but…do you KNOW that mountain lion?" Judy asked carefully as Viktor looked to be mentally psyching himself back into a more talkative mood as he quickly sat himself upright again.
"All too well, Ms. Hopps. Me and Reggie…we go back a very long time," Viktor stated with that same glimmer of nostalgia in his eyes.
"You don't suppose…HE could possibly be the culprit, do you?" she pressed further; the very notion prompting Bogo to practically shoot up from his desk with half a mind to reprimand her on the spot before Viktor gave him another glance that seemed to instantly turn down his hair trigger temper.
"I can appreciate that ZPD officers' instinct to cover every possibility, Ms. Hopps. It's the sign of a true professional, a true prodigy. But I can assure you, that's a true impossibility. You see, Reggie and I served in the ZFD together. He was in the service for about as long as I was, but he retired six years ago, and he ended up moving out of his old home about two years ago. The last I'd heard about him was that he'd moved into this neighborhood in Sahara Square, so when I heard about this fire happening, I got really worried about him. That's why I wanted Bogo to check in on it for me, just so I could at least know for a fact whether or not Reggie was okay."
"The landlord said he'd moved out of there about a year ago. But I wouldn't know where he could be otherwise," Bogo piped in as Bullba let out a slight sigh of relief.
"I'm just glad he wasn't there. We may not have spoken for a while, but Reggie's still a comrade, so I just hope he's okay wherever he is now," Bullba admitted while Nick and Judy shared curious glances before giving each other a mutual nod of decision.
"I'm sorry, I have to stop you there, sir. It's just that Carrots and I have been wondering who directed the chief to this case from the start, and now that we know, I just gotta ask. WHY exactly did you ask the ZPD to investigate this specific case in the first place?" Nick finally asked with none of his overhanging typical sarcasm while Bullba simply looked at him for a few tense seconds before giving an understanding nod and sitting himself up straight again.
"Of course. After coming this far already, it's only right you deserve to know the truth as protectors of this city. Would you rather I tell them, or do you wanna take over?" Bullba stated before turning his attention to the momentarily surprised ZPD chief.
"I'm the one that assigned them to work with me here, so it's only fair that I tell them. You see, I worked together with Viktor around the beginning of my working for the ZPD, on my very first big case thirteen years ago. It was a serial arson case. Someone had been setting off major fires all across the city, and Viktor and I worked together every step of the way, from the crime scenes, to even the messages the culprit kept giving the ZPD to tell where he'd strike next. Despite doing so, it was still a very difficult case for all of us, but we ultimately managed to nab him and put an end to his arson spree before he could really put the public in serious danger."
"I'd been working with the ZFD for three years by that point, so Reggie, myself and a handful of others had already distinguished ourselves and had been made into our own elite unit to tackle major cases like that serial arson. I still have the culprits' info right here, just in case you feel the need to go over it," Bullba interjected before pulling out a manila envelope from his suit pocket and handed it to the fox and bunny who proceeded to promptly look it over. Staring back at them was an especially vicious looking black panther with orange eyes, or at least one, as the other one was clouded over as though he were partially blind.
"His name is Leonard Pantera. He had no criminal record prior to this case. Most of us believe he just…SNAPPED one day, felt like the world needed to be cleansed, or maybe it was just some violent yet desperate cry for attention, as tends to be the case with a lot of these situations. When we caught him, didn't take a whole lot to have him put away. Needless to say, he swore revenge on all of us before they locked him up. However, he ended up escaping from prison three years later, but he never went after any of us; not me, Bogo, Reggie, or any of the others."
"We were all on high alert when it initially happened, but after nearly five months without so much as a peep, we let our guards down. We ultimately came to the conclusion that he'd simply drifted away, either to a whole other city or maybe even country, or that he just decided to go living in isolation from the rest of the world. Regardless, we'd still set up a state-wide mammal-hunt for him, but we never came up with anything," Bogo added on. This was all so much new information for Nick and Judy to work with. The possibilities had suddenly gone from nonexistent to nearly limitless. A prolonged attempt at revenge? It made perfect sense with this story, and now they finally had a name and a face to look out for.
"The only thing that really bothers me about this whole thing is the timing. Pantera escaped from prison ten years ago, and to hear him talk, you'd think he would've come gunning for us the instant he was out, but no. Instead he goes a whole ten years in complete silence only to suddenly make his move NOW. I know I may be jumping to conclusions saying he's the culprit, but really, just the fact that a fire this expertly planned out suddenly happened in the same apartment my oldest and closest ZFD comrade was living in just strikes me as way too convenient to just be a freak coincidence," Bullba stated his theory while Judy, Nick and Bogo couldn't all help but agree. Sure they could still happen, but things like this didn't happen in the world of the ZPD that could just be written off as freak occurences.
"Do you think it's possible he might be gunning for you now that you're officially running for City Senator? Maybe he's targeting your old friends as a means to scare you off," Judy suggested, and the realization on Bullba's face nearly seemed like a literal lightbulb would've gone on over his head.
"Or maybe he went after the last place anyone new Mr. Aslani was living as some kind of a warning. Maybe he might go after you, the chief or any of your other old firefighting buddies next, and he just attempted this fire at the Rainforest District port to try and throw us off some kind of pattern," Nick also theorized, and the energy and drive to suddenly look into all these new options could nearly be physically felt in the air of Chief Bogo's office now.
"These are all good ideas to throw around, but I'm afraid that last one isn't as likely, Mr. Wilde. You see, with the exception of Reggie…well, the rest of my friends from my old unit…well…th-they're not with us anymore," Bullba confessed, and it was like all life had suddenly been sucked out of the room in that instant.
"That's right, that high-rise fire six years back. I'm sorry, Viktor," Bogo expressed his condolences while Bullba took a moment to wipe a glimmer from his eye.
"Don't be, Bogo, please. It was a…a very hard time for all of us, but they went out performing their sworn duty. If there's anything I know is a certainty in this world, it's that they wouldn't have had any regrets. Saving lives was what we all lived for," Bullba explained with a heavy sense of nostalgia in his voice now.
"*ahem* anyway, the possibility of Pantera trying to scare me off now that I'm the most popular candidate is a very good possibility. It would explain why he's waited so long to make a move. The only problem now is how we're supposed to deal with him. Before, he'd always end up sending the ZPD some kind of message, like a riddle, to hint where he'd strike next. You haven't received any strange packages over the last two days, have you, Bogo?" Bullba asked before the chief gave him a sullen shake of the head.
"Actually, sirs, there were a couple clues we found at the port fire this morning we thought would be worth mentioning. Officer Wilde came across a trail of that incendiary gel the culprit deliberately left that led to one of the warehouses. He'd burned all the stolen security camera footage in a steel drum inside, and we found this on the wall," Judy quickly piped in as she took out her phone and presented them with the photo of the two spray painted spots.
"Are you suggesting this is connected to that one spot we found in the apartment, Hopps?" Bogo asked while Bullba himself looked to now be deep in thought.
"It's one of the better leads we have to go on, sir. We're not sure if it's meant to serve as some kind of message like Mr. Bullba suggested, but my personal theory is that it may be the culprit's means of keeping tally, almost as if to mock us," Judy explained; earning a sudden nod of agreement from Bullba.
"It's not outside the realm of possibility. One of the key factors to solving a case like this is to try and get inside the culprit's head; try to gain an understanding just HOW they think. It still won't be easy, but it could at least help us to theorize WHERE they might strike next," Bullba added on; earning a proud smile from the little bunny that she could be on the right track.
"There was something else, though I'm not sure if it's ultimately that useful. Carrots interviewed a security guard who'd been knocked out and stuffed into his locker before the fire started, and she mentioned he'd smelt lavender before he'd gotten knocked out, and when I found that jelly trail to the warehouse, I realized it smelled like lavender too. At the time I just figured we hadn't smelled it at that apartment fire because it was being overpowered by the heavy smoke and cinder smell inside," Nick also piped in, and all at once Bullba nearly leaped out of his chair with eyes wide.
"It has to be Pantera doing all this then. It just HAS to be! Most times arsonists make that incendiary gel, it only ever has that standard bar of soap smell to it. But back in that original case, he always made his concoction with a hint of lavender to give it that distinctive smell; almost like it was his sick little trademark, something that would make us notice and focus on him.
"This is big, everyone. I think it's safe to say we have a suspect to look out for now. Obviously a fire as big as the one at the port won't go unnoticed, so you all just leave dealing with the press and the public to me. They'll need to be reassured that the ZPD and the ZFD will be doing everything in their power to make sure the arsonist is put safely behind bars. Bogo, I don't mean to overstep my boundaries with you being chief of the ZPD and all, but I suggest you send your best forensics officers to the scenes again, and let me know the INSTANT they find anything noteworthy they might've missed the first time around."
It was like a fire had ironically enough been lit under Bullba as he was resisting the urge to make a beeline for the door, no doubt to arrange a press conference so he could get everything he wanted out to the public; but he managed to stop and turn to Nick and Judy before he was halfway out the door.
"You've done fantastically so far, Officers Hopps and Wilde. I knew you were regarded as city heroes for a reason. Keep up the great work on this case, and if you EVER need to see me for consultation or any kind of help, don't hesitate to come down to city hall. I'll gladly assist you in whatever ways I can," the once-again jovial Viktor Bullba thanked them with a respectful bow of his head as the fox and bunny alike gave him a respectful salute in return. Lord knew that if this case was going to continue being as difficult as it was, they'd be holding him to it.
Later that night, in an unassuming basement somewhere in the city center…
The sweltering humidity of the small nearly pitch black room was almost unbearable as an unknown individual hidden within the shadows save for a single desk light was hunched over, hard at work at putting together a small metal device with a tiny battery and a few other tiny mechanical moving parts inside its hollow tube body.
Slipping a covering tube over it, and after setting up a few complex wire attachments, like a mechanics-based heart surgeon hard at work on the most delicate procedure; the stranger looked over his strange new invention; switching his gaze from the metal device to a medium-sized tub of clear jelly, and then finally to a small one-button remote in his paw. Without any hesitation, he took a few steps back from the small metal device before hitting the button, and like clockwork, the small metal tube quickly descended into the larger tube overlapping it; the movement producing a considerable spark. After a few more button presses, the device continued the simple spark-producing movement with every single push with perfect timing.
"Perfect. Just a few more…and it'll be time."
Well everyone, that's Chapter 3. I gotta say, it was really hard for me to put this chapter together and put out all the details I felt were absolutely necessary and portray them in a way that would make sense. This is my lack of expertise writing a real mystery making itself known here. Now as a result, I'll most likely end up taking a considerable amount more time putting Chapter 4 together, especially with my next college semester slowly but steadily approaching, in which case I'll have to devote more time I normally would writing to that.
But ultimately, I aim to see this story through to the end, and I only hope I don't end up losing any of you along the way. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and I'd really love to hear your thoughts on how I'm doing with all this so far. Thank you all so much for all your support.
P.S. I've been getting a tiny bit more creative with the animal-pun based names this movie is so well-known for, this time by using the names of certain animals as they are in foreign languages. And it just so turns out that panther in Spanish also translates to one of my favorite metal bands of all time, so double points for that happy accident.
