Ch. 3: They Stumbled Upon…

Fuck. This is her.

Nick stared down at the slightly peeved bunny before him, glad his aviators were hiding his eyes that were ready to pop out of his skull.

How had he not put two and two together? Jack had told him he had married a bunny in the force and this was the only bunny in the force. The only bunny left.

A wolf like that would chew you up and spit out the bones. Had he actually said that to Judy Savage?

To Jack's widow?

The guilt nearly made him apologize but his pride that ordered him to always dress his best and lift his snout up at the world kept his tongue still. Instead, he just nodded and turned, lifting a paw that now held a slight tremble to it and opened the glass door, stepping out and hurrying to his car.

Being in the space that he always kept clean (it even still had the new car smell), Nick relaxed against the tan leather and pulled out of the parking lot, heading to the Targoat where the picture of the wolf had been taken.

When Nick had been called about this he had hurried to City Center, only taking the time to pack a few things. Nick had no idea who this Wolf was but it had made a fatal mistake in killing Jack and then leaving a clue for Nick to hunt it down.

The fox let out a shuddering breath, calming himself down enough to pull his claws out of the leather of his steering wheel.

Instead he let his mind go back to that bunny cop. Judy. He wished he had gotten a better look at her before he had left, wanting to see and hear the bunny that had caught Jack's heart. He imagined she was as feisty as him, if not more so, but smart too, having a shelf at home full of books.

And Nick saw why Jack had kept going on about her eyes.

"They're like gems, Nick!" Jack said excitedly from the other line of the phone. Nick was leaning in the chair of his office, coffee in one paw and the other typing away on his computer, his phone stuck between his cheek and shoulder.

"I thought my eyes were like gems, Cap'n Jack," the fox joked before taking a sip of his warm, sugary drink.

"Yes but she's actually pleasant company to keep," Jack replied wittingly. "She's beautiful too, gorgeous even."

"I'm happy for ya, pal," Nick replied, being sincere even if it didn't sound like it. "Meanwhile no vixens on this side of town are interested in Detective Wilde. Wait until they lose some jewelry and then they'll be crawling to me and begging to go through that crime/romance cliché."
"Whoever catches your eye will be a lovely girl, I'm sure," Jack said, from his side Nick could hear a door being closed and guessed Jack had shut himself in his office. "Actually, Nick…there's something important I wanted to tell you."

"Oh?" Nick took another sip of his drink.

"I'm going to marry her-Nick, are you okay?"
Jack's concerned question came after Nick spewed his coffee onto his computer. The fox's fur was bristling as he hit the speaker button on his phone, placing it on the dry side of his desk and jumping for the wipes in his drawer.

"How long have you known the bunny?" he spluttered as he furiously wiped at his computer, his eye twitching slightly. He had been obsessed with keeping a clean office since day one and it make invisible insects crawl through his fur to see his keyboard becoming sticky.

"I've known her for about a year now," Jack said.

"And you're just telling me about her now?" the fox demanded.

"I didn't want to bother you about it unless I knew it was serious," he explained, "And it is, Nick. I love her."

"That's great, Cap'n Jack," Nick told his friend. "When's the wedding?"

"Spring."
Nick dropped onto his seat, computer now clean, but his expression dismayed. "I can't make it."

"Why not?"

I'm going out of Zootopia for a dual assignment. I'm not going to get back for months," Nick replied mournfully, his paw running across his face. "Maybe I can cancel?"

"No," Jack said, "We both know how hard you worked to get where you are, I don't want you to throw away such a big assignment for me."

"Jack…" Nick breathed regretfully.

"Really, Nick," Jack's voice was sincere and understanding. "How about you make it up to me by getting me a very expensive wedding gift?"

"I'll buy you a house," Nick offered.

"Let me rephrase that, buy me an expensive gift that's in your budget."
"Oh, ho, you're funny," Nick growled playfully, "My wits rubbing off on you. I'll mail you something; kiss your fiancé for me, will ya?"

Nick's bittersweet trip down memory lane came to a stop when he arrived at the Targoat; already there were a few cops there, keeping civilians at a distance from where the Wolf was spotted. Nick parked his car between a mud-covered truck and a van covered in stickers; clearly the driver's kids were honor students. Nick decided to park his car a little closer to the honor students' van, ready to risk sticky fingerprints over any of the mud that was sliding off that truck to dirty the asphalt.

Nick slid out of his car and headed over to the side of the building where the wolf had been spotted. But as soon as he did he did a double take, stepping back with a curl of his snout.

"What are you doing here?"

Judy turned on her heel to look up at the fox, paws on her hips and as soon as their eyes met she gave him the haughtiest of looks that had his ears pressing against his skull.

"Just because you didn't want my help doesn't mean I don't have every intention of solving this case," she replied simply.

She moved on, examining the square of cement that separated the Targoat next to an old noodle shop that looked like it hadn't been open for years.

"How did you get here before me?" he demanded.

"You took the interstate," she replied, not looking back at him, "I on the other hand know short cuts."

Nick rolled his eyes at her condescending tone that he knew was a mockery of how he had talked to her earlier. Nick didn't want her to be here and yet…he wanted a chance to study her, this bunny that had married Jack and had stolen the last years of his unexpectedly short life.

"Then I expect you found a whole laundry list of clues, then?" Nick asked drolly, cocking an eyebrow as he did so.

"Fangmeyer and a few of the other officers are asking some of the Targoat employees if they saw anything," Judy replied, stepping up to the brick wall of the store. "Other than that… Hopefully he left fur or something?"

"Hmm," Nick walked farther ahead of the little square, reaching a fence that separated it from the alley on the other side. "Why would he even be near a Targoat?"

"He wouldn't go in and buy anything, surely," Judy said, walking over to stand by him, Nick took a subtle side step away from her. "He'd risk getting recognized."
"Yeah," Nick replied. "And also…"

"What?" Judy asked.

The wind had shifted, blowing toward Nick and with it a stench that sent the fur along his spine spiking up. "Do you smell that?"

Judy's pink nose twitched before she let out a gag, covering her mouth. "What is that?"

Before Nick could take a guess she jumped across the fence, scrambling over to the other side. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"It's coming from this dumpster," Judy called to him. "Maybe-" her words ended in a high-pitched shriek and the next thing Nick knew he was across the fence and jumping down onto the cracked cement on the other side, holding his breath against the foul odor that was stronger than ever.

Judy had jumped away from the dumpster she had opened, her eyes wide and chest heaving. On edge Nick cautiously walked to the large gray bin, trying to ignore the series of miscellaneous stains on its surface to look inside.

Amongst the empty take out boxes, broken plates and toys and torn clothing, stuffed in there like a garbage bag, was a sheep. His body positioned at an odd angle, his tongue hanging from his mouth and eyes unseeing.

His throat was red stained wool and through the crimson Nick could make out the fatal wounds that could be nothing else but bite marks.