1.25 pm, Monday, May 11, 2022

Since the Grand Parade was taking place on Saturday, not all officers assigned needed to assist the preparations immediately. Detective Barnes had delegated some of them to perform other tasks and so, Detective Max Reynolds and Officer Isabelle Alvarez were driving through the city in silence with him behind the wheel and her pretending to play with her phone while watching him constantly. Max could see it and it rather amused him, but he did not comment on the thing. He liked Isabelle immediately, as she struck him as a cheerful, positive girl.

"So… Are you in ZPD for long?" She wondered.

"It'll be four years on June. And you?" Max asked.

"Almost six now. Why didn't you go to Tundratown, but here? You'd have plenty friends around there. And we'd have met earlier," she pointed out half-jokingly.

"All dad's friends would look over me, that's why. I needed some freedom," Reynolds smirked. "But honestly, it was mostly about a girl. Whole this ZPD thing was, at first."

"Kaylee?" She guessed, but he shook her head.

"No, old times. And you? Why did you join the force?" He turned at her and she shrugged with a giggle.

"My uncle was here, my cousins were here, what else was I supposed to do? I wanted to be a model at first, but ended up in here anyways," she giggled and Max had to give it to her, that she had most bewitching laugh. "So… are you married for long?" She changed the subject suddenly.

"We'll have our first anniversary on Friday," he said proudly.

"Yeah, thought so," she muttered and Max watched her carefully, as they stopped at the traffic lights.

"Why?" He asked a bit tensely.

"Oh, it's nothing, really," she shrugged it off, only intriguing Max even more.

"I'm open to critique, Isa," he assured and started driving slowly again as the lights changed.

"It's just…" Isabelle hesitated. "I'm sorry, I really don't mean it in a bad way, you seem like a nice guy, but I went through this same thing and… are you sure that she's treating you right?" She asked shyly.

"I… excuse me?" Max jerked his head, more amused than offended, and she turned away with embarrassment.

"I mean… I've been through this before. Two years ago, I met a guy. He was the sweetest of his kind, released himself from clutches from his poor, abusive family. Living him felt like a fairy tale at first. But then… he wanted to control me, just like his parents controlled him. He read my texts, he kept checking who I was meeting with and monitored every guy that I've ever talked to. Before I even noticed, he closed me away from everyone, but himself and… I've had some hard time breaking myself free," Isabelle confessed.

"I'm sorry," Max said with pity. "And thank you for your care, but Kaylee's not like this," he promised with a confident smile. "She did have some messed up family, but she's better than that."

"Well, good for you," Alvarez replied completely unconvinced and it stung Max painfully. Could Kaylee really be like this? No, there was no way. Before ZPD, there always was someone keeping her away from the world, forcing her to suffer lonely. Max refused to believe that she could ever do this same to anyone and certainly not to her own husband.

"I bet you'll find some decent guy in time," he assured, but she just shrugged.

"I'm not really looking for anyone for the time being. I mean, if some wonderful guy fell into my paws…" she eyed him subtly, but Max, as ignorant to subtle hints as always, did not even notice it. "…I guess I'd try and take my chance."

"And that's the right attitude," he congratulated her. "There are some decent single wolves at our station. And not only wolves, if it suits you."

"Yeah, I noticed," Isabelle agreed, but again, he didn't seem to take it as a personal compliment, so she just coughed a little awkwardly. She tried to say something more, when radio spoke.

"Reynolds, Alvarez, we've had a robbery at liquor store "You can drink anything!" at Flock Street 8 just few minutes ago. Go and check it," Barnes ordered them.

"Got it," Max confirmed and Isabelle switched the siren on. "You can drink anything. That's a catchy name," he noticed with a smirk.

"I think we've had couple mayors winning with the slogan," she agreed half-jokingly as she watched Max going from 25 to 60 mph in mere seconds, while overtaking several cars without hesitation and with a decent safety margin. She could clearly sense that Max was some skilled driver, but decided not to comment on it as long as they were speeding through the town. They arrived to the place in a minute or two and stopped right before the store. Max and Isabelle secured the place, stopped passersby from coming inside with a police tape and, after the cashier unlocked the door, looked inside. It was rather small, but filled with bottles of all kinds and sizes from the floor to the ceiling. The glassed door was cracked and just at the entrance, there lied a broken bottle of some expensive alcohol. The cashier, a young gazelle, was standing in front of them, trying not to laugh. Isabelle and Max eyed at each other. Stress reaction?

"Good afternoon. I am Detective Reynolds and this is Officer Alvarez. Could you step outside and tell us what happened in here?"

"Hans Pearson. It's a…" And then, he laughed hysterically again. He took a long step over the puddle of alcohol and they stepped outside. "I'm sorry, it's just… OK, so the guy walks in and locks the door behind himself. He's a massive, tall horse. He has a mask on his face, but I can see that he's brown. He draws a knife and says that he wants all the money I have, to not play a hero and so on. You can see it all on the cameras," Hans pointed up to the two cameras watching them carefully, one inside and the other outside. "I tell him that we've just opened so we're empty, so he demands the most expensive bottle instead. I comply, I mean, come on, he has a knife. I turn around, reach for some top shelf alcohols and then, a thought strikes me. He has some really squeaky, childish voice, so I ask him if he's 21. He claims so, obviously, but I don't believe him. So he reaches for his wallet, takes his driving license and puts it down. I put the bottles as well and then, he grabs them, runs out, slamming into the glassed door breaking one of the bottles, unlocks it and runs out again," the cashier explained, chuckling.

"Did he take his ID?" Max asked carefully and the gazelle smirked.

"Nope," he showed them a Driving License of some horse and cackled. "I'm sorry, I just… What an idiot!" Two officers looked at each other with amusement and Isabelle took it in her paw and studied carefully.

"Um… the case is over?" She noticed with a chuckle.

"We've got to secure the evidence, confirm everything… but yeah, looks like it," Max agreed with a cheerful case. "Mr. Pearson, would you mind to wait outside while we secure the proof? It shouldn't take long," he promised and the gazelle complied. Isabelle Alvarez began to secure the proof, while Max reported to the radio detailed personal info of a robber. The camera recordings and strands of fur they found in the cracks of the window soon confirmed Mr. Pearson's version of events. Before 3 pm they already had the perp at the station, before 4 pm, they had the confession out of him. Max Reynolds and Isabelle Alvarez, with their perp arrested and waiting, began to write the report. At 5 pm, with the report soon to be finished. Max bided farewell to his new partner and picked Kaylee up from her Rabbit Hole. Normally, he'd stay there for an hour longer to close the case, but not today. For today, was the day.


5.29 pm, Monday, May 11, 2022

The 7th Savanna Central Orphanage used to be quite a gloomy place the first time when Max and Kaylee saw it, bringing to the mind a single word; ruin. The walls were shabby, the corridors were cold, the rooms soulless. But in last two years, it had changed for the better due to several donations from Reynolds Reparation Fund. Now, the place was going through thorough renovation with the workers reinstalling new insulation. Kaylee and Max passed by them, greeting them politely and came inside, greeted by the director of the orphanage; a rather old and chubby honey badger. She adjusted her glasses and greeted the two of them with energetic shake of paw.

"Right on time, Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds," she said with appreciation.

"We wouldn't want to be late, Mrs. Ubik," Kaylee assured. They stepped inside and the orphanage's director walked them inside.

"As I understand, there are no problems on the legislative side?" She asked and both Reynolds shook their heads.

"The formal side of adoption process should be concluded soon," Max assured. "These children… could you tell us about them? You have been very vague before."

"Of course, "she assured. "Mia and Thane Cloverine were born on 3rd March of 2010. When they were two years old, their parents, Julio and Ester, had a car accident in result of which they and five of their children died. Only Mia and Thane survived by sheer luck. With no family to look after them, they ended up in here and remained until 2017, when they were adopted by a family couple streets away, but soon returned here," Mrs. Ubik explained.

"Why?" Wondered Kaylee.

"Abusive household. The foster parents neglected the children caring only about the money they got from state for upbringing them. Their classmate helped them run away back here and after some nasty confrontation, the kids stayed here."

"How did they take it?" Worried Max.

"They were mostly relieved for being back, given the short time it left little to no trauma. I sent them to a child psychologist couple times, but we had some very limited funds at the time…" Mrs. Ubik watched Max with a smile. "And which has changed recently thanks to your decision, Mr. Reynolds."

"I just did what was right," Max replied shyly. He needed no glory for it. He was sick of having basked in it after Spencer Young's case anyway. "Mia and Thane… what are they like?"

"Mia's a quiet, shy child. She really likes to draw. Just give her crayons and some paper and you'll have her occupied for whole day. She also loves fairy tales and would love to be a princess one day. Thane loves robots, he keeps building some with the little bricks we have and he really is creative about them. Both of them stick together and we didn't want to separate them; that's why we've had some troubles with finding them a family before," she said and then, stopped before one of the rooms.

"They're playing over there," Mrs. Ubik informed them. She knocked on the door and, without waiting, pushed it open. Inside, Max and Kaylee saw some freshly renovated playing room full of toys with two young bunnies playing. Mia was sitting by a child's table, drawing something passionately. She was a grey rabbit with brown eyes, which she now raised to watch the visitors. Thane, on the other hand, was a brown rabbit browsing through a massive stash of bricks, searching for something passionately. He only paused when Mrs. Ubik called them.

"Mia, Thane, these are Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds I've told you about before. They wanted to meet you," she introduced them.

"Good afternoon," youngsters said simultaneously, watching both carefully, especially Max.

"I'll leave you alone for a bit. If you needed anything, just call me," suggested Mrs. Ubik and left, closing the door behind her. Kaylee and Max smiled to the kids, as she walked over to Mia and Max sat with Thane.

"What are you drawing?" Kaylee asked, but saw that the little girl only shied away. "That's a nice castle. And this beautiful princess… It's you, isn't she? She has this same eyes," she guessed and the girl nodded with a smile.

"Mhm."

"Could I draw with you?" Kaylee asked and Mia nodded again and she sat down on a child-sized chair, but then switched for the floor instead. Mia gave her a sheet of paper and shared the crayons and the two of them continued to draw in silence.

In meanwhile, Max sat by Thane, who was already back to the bricks.

"Hi, there. What are you building there?" He asked.

"A robot. His name is Quest and he's a fire guardian," Thane showed him a partly finished, bipedal robot. "He carries a mighty fire bow and a mask that allows him to see very, very far. He can shoot down his foes before they see him."

"Can he fly?" Max wondered.

"No, only the wind guardian can!" Thane refused with outrage. "And he'd need wings!"

"OK, OK," the wolf apologized with embarrassment. "And where does your guardian have a quill?" He wondered.

"What?"

"Quill. For arrows," Max explained and Thane wondered.

"Hmm… Can you make him a quill? I'll finish the arms," he suggested finally and Max agreed eagerly. "You'll need three parts like this one and find something to keep them together," the young rabbit shown him an element and Max began the search. The two of them finished the parts, Thane completing the arms with only red and black elements, while Max, realizing the colors held importance to the kid, finished the quill sticking to the code. Then, they connected it to the back of Quest, the fire guardian, exchanging ideas how to do it best and finished with doing several arrows. As they finished, Thane put the robot between them and watched it with satisfaction.

"They're your favorite, aren't they? The bricks?" Max pointed and Thane shrugged.

"They're fine. Before the renovation we had very few bricks and only I liked playing with them, but now everyone does, so they'll dismantle Quest in a week," he said sadly.

"We can make a photo of him, so we can rebuild him any time," suggested Max reaching for his phone. "I can send it to Mrs. Ubik so she'll print it for you," he said and Thane nodded eagerly.

"That would be awesome!" He agreed excitedly and Max took several pictures from different angles and saved them to Mrs. Ubik, asking to print and give to the boy.

"So, another robot?" Max suggested and he shrugged. "Or do we play with them?"

"I don't know."

"And what else do you like? Board games?"

"They're OK," Thane didn't seem very convinced, but then, his sight stopped at Max's dart gun's holster. "Is that a gun? You're a cop, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. Do you like cops?"

"They're OK. When Ryan tried to escape, a cop that caught him was really nice to him," Thane explained, still watching the gun. "Can I see it?" He hoped. Max hesitated, shrugged and then, took out the clip and handed it to him. Thane watched it curiously from all angles.

"What do you say?" Max asked.

"It looks awesome. Can we look inside?"

"We don't have any…" Max tried to protest, but then he saw a screwdriver in rabbit's paw. "…tools. Will you know how to put it back together?" He asked.

"Mhm, I once put a radio back together," Thane assured.

"Did it work?"

"No, but it never did," he replied and Max chuckled.

"Oh well, if you want to, but let's clear the bricks first. We don't want to lose any parts in these," he agreed. Even if Thane would fail miserably, he could fix it on his own. He and Kaylee have been doing it a hundred times now. The young rabbit exclaimed excitedly, they put the bricks back in the box and they started dismantling the gun, with Thane doing most of the job, while Max was advising him and explaining how certain elements worked. The fun of bringing the gun to basic elements and back together took them a while, but, with wolf's minor help, Thane managed to bring the thing back to the original state. In meanwhile, girls borrowed their robot and tried to draw him, to present the result to the boys. Both of them agreed that Mia's one was way prettier.

"You have a lot of training before you, darling," Max shook his head with pity.

"I know, I know. Mia, you said you wanted to play a board game with all of us, didn't you?" She asked and little girl nodded shyly. "What do you say?" She turned to them and both Max and Thane agreed. Mia picked her favorite game, they sat down by the table and started to play. Couple games later, Mrs. Ubik came reminding them that it was already half past seven and the visit should be over by now, as it was the dinnertime. Max and Kaylee parted with the children, agreed with Mrs. Ubik on the next meeting and, guided by her, left the orphanage.

"So, what do you say?" Max wondered, as they walked down the outer stairs.

"Honestly... I just… I love the two of them so much already… We're taking them home aren't we? We can't leave them here like this! They needs parents and…"

"Of course, we are," Max assured as embracing his with a smile. "If I ever doubted in the idea, then now…"

"Hey, you!" Somebody yelled from behind and they turned around carefully. Just by the orphanage door, there stood some young wolf, no older than Mia or Thane. He was of grey fur and some ridiculously threatening demeanor for a twelve-year-old. Kaylee shivered suddenly, as the boy snarled at them.

"Yes, pup?" Max replied politely, but coldly as ice.

"Are you the ones that want to take Mia and Thane?" He demanded to know.

"So what if we are?" Reynolds spoke harshly. He didn't like the way the kid looked at them.

"Know that if you hurt them like the previous guys, you'll regret it too," the boy threatened him and then, the orphanage door opened with a slam, showing Mrs. Ubik.

"Ryan! Back inside! Stop bothering these people!" She yelled at him furiously. "My apologize," she turned to them, but Max just nodded politely.

"It's alright," he assured and they continued to walk to their car. As they were inside, he realized that something was still bothering Kaylee. "What is it, darling?"

"This kid… I just… his eyes reminded me of someone I wish I could forget," she confessed.

"Gerard Greymane?" Max guessed and she nodded.

"Gerard Greymane," she confirmed with a shiver.


7.53 pm, Monday, May 11, 2022

Judy Hopps announced her arrival with a doorbell. Nick opened almost immediately and invited her inside. The bunny sensed some delicious smells coming from the kitchen and Nick, as if reading in her mind, explained.

"I'm making my own pizza. It should be ready in minutes," he said. "I hope you're hungry."

"I am," she assured and they went to the kitchen to pour themselves some of the juice. Judy glanced at the oven and its deliciously-looking content.

"What do you say? Is it not… falling flat?" He dropped a pun and she giggled.

"We'll see," she only replied, grabbing her glass and following him to the dining room. She put a bag with her laptop on the table and unpacked the computer, while Nick brought out the pin board and hung it on the wall just next to TV. In his paw he had some photos and stripes of names with short descriptions. He pinned a first picture with a name they knew well to the center of the board.

"Anastasia Reynolds," he said and, as always when Judy saw her, she shivered. There was something disturbing in this polite, self-possessed wolf, something she couldn't quite put a name on, but couldn't stop it from bothering her.

"Let's start with rehearing what we have. We'll get to mine stuff later," Judy suggested and he nodded, pinning another name to the board.

"Jason Wolford," he said, like anyone needed introducing their friend from ZPD. He connected him with Anastasia with a string signed 'Couple' and then, added a photo of a house next to it. "He broke up with Miss Reynolds right after Spencer Young's Manifesto coming out. How did he put it again?"

"That she was a cold-hearted, bossy b-word," Judy reminded him.

"And that he was going to regret it and she made sure of it. Wolford's parents nearly lost their family house due to the debts, and if not for Max's creative accounting…" A new picture and respective connections appeared on the board, this time of Reynolds and his wife. "…they certainly would. This is when Max and Anastasia fell in conflict lasting till these days," he finished.

"And then, as Anastasia and Jason broke up, she also said that she was going to elect a new mayor," Judy pointed out and Nick added a photo of the mayoral office. The bunny shivered with excitement. It was how all of this started; when Wolford mentioned to them about Anastasia Reynolds ambitions. Judy thought at first that Nick would just disregard it or her worries, shrug them off and laugh at an idea of investigating it. But he did not. Instead, they started digging on their own, seeking new facts for quite a moment now. That was their role after all, to watch the paws of the high and mighty. To control them and, if necessary, blow the whistle.

"So, this year's elections," Nick continued with a nod and put two photos of two most significant candidates; mayor Ketchikan and Mr. Heveryn. "From the start, Anastasia Reynolds supported mayor Ketchikan. Together with some of the board of Reynolds Industries…" Several new photos appeared. "…They funded considerate part of his campaign. They tried to drag Max in it as well, but the idea failed, as he gave his best to keep himself and Reynolds Reparation Fund apolitical."

"And he succeeded in doing so," Judy added, remembering well how much effort it brought Max to maneuver between everyone trying to pull their strings on him. There'd been even a recurring joke of the phone calls he was receiving. Whenever Max picked a call from a journalist, he'd hand it to random ZPD officer and they had to make up the silliest excuse they only could. Game lasted for few more months and they suspected some called them only to hear officers making fun of them.

"To amusement of all of us," Nick agreed, recalling several calls he had handled. "So, funding of Ketchikan's campaign was limited to Anastasia, Reynolds Industries and usual donators. Heveryn, in meanwhile, received nearly twice the Ketchikan's funds from multiple mammals we couldn't find anything particular about," he concluded and saw the smile at Judy's face.

"We'll get to it later. Go on," she insisted, wanting to keep her small bomb for the end.

"Alright. Two weeks before the elections…" And then, they heard the oven beeping and Nick paused in the middle. "Some pizza?" He offered and they made a short break for a dinner. A few minutes later, Nick, with a pizza slice in his paw, continued the lecture, while Judy ate by the table. Delicious aroma filled the air.

"Ketchikan scandal," reminded him Judy.

"Right. Two weeks before the elections, Ketchikan could count on approximately forty-two percent of votes, with Heveryn having only thirty-three. Daily Sunny, a usual gossip newspaper, delivered evidence of Ketchikan's affair with a teenage otter, Layla Otteran, completely ruining Ketchikan's family-friendly image. In a week, Ketchikan lost eight percent point with Heveryn gaining most of it. Layla Otteran remained invincible at first to attend a single interview where she confirmed everything only to sink into thin air yet again," Nick introduced the situation.

"Terribly sketchy, but some mammals bought it," Judy concluded. "In meanwhile, Ketchikan tried to denounce her credibility and the photos that were taken of the two of them. Experts he hired failed to deliver enough proof of his innocence…" Nick snorted with laughter and she couldn't agree more. Presumption of innocence in public opinion was fiction these days. "…before the first round of elections and Heveryn nearly scored the majority in result. Then, there was the week until the second round when Ketchikan counterattacked, proving that the photos and the accusations in general were fabricated and delivering a touching confession from his wife. By sheer luck, won eventually by two percent points," Nick concluded.

"Do we know who stood behind Otteran and whole this fraud? Because we know it was fraud now," Judy wondered, but Nick only shrugged.

"Layla Otteran, if she even exists under that name, has vanished into thin air. We know that Daily Sunny, the newspaper behind the news, really dislike Ketchikan, but they claim they were tipped off anonymously."

"So we can call it a dead end," Judy pointed out and Nick nodded.

"A dead end for now. But we're not here to remind ourselves that we're stuck, are we?" The fox pointed out and she nodded with a giggle. Judy finished her pizza slice, once again congratulating Nick on how good it turned out to be and then, she joined him by the pin board with her own papers and photos.

"I've done some research on Heveryn's sponsors," she started and pinned a list of nearly fifty names. "Heveryn went broke rather recently, there was no way he could fund his own campaign. And certainly not on the scale he did. So, instead of paying up on his own, he found some rich contributors. The forty seven mammals present here contributed over ninety percent of his electoral budget. Most of them are absurdly rich, some don't even come from Zootopia. Some are young, the others are old, some know him personally, the others not. They share no common features in general. Mostly," Judy made an effective pause. As silly as it must have been, she had actually practiced this lecture of hers. "If we rounded it up to only selected few…" She grabbed a red marker and circled over twenty names. "…The ones that contributed right as the campaign kicked off, to be specific, we'll get a list of twenty four mammals that covered sixty-eight percent of his electoral budget. Yet again, they may have seemingly no common features."

"Seemingly," Nick emphasized, letting her enjoyed her triumph. They spent too long on that thing with no results to steal any of it from her now.

"Seemingly. Because these names bear some connection. You see, all of these mammals belong to a certain non-profit organization called Start Anew. They're website is… practically non-existent, I'm afraid, but the list of its members is public," she explained, attaching the organization's logo to the pin board and connecting it to the list of names.

"Their purpose?" Nick asked.

"Not a clue. I'm not sure if they really do have any. I called someone from the upper ranks about it, under fake name and from a booth, obviously, but they didn't seem like they knew either," Judy explained, rather amused.

"Totally not shady."

"Not one bit. And you won't believe who founded it nearly thirty years ago. He's gone by now and you do know him, if it serves as any sort of a clue," Judy said. Nick wondered on it for a moment and then, he saw a photo she was waving.

"Thomas Ezekiel Reynolds," he said, as Judy pinned the photo to the board.

"Exactly. Some of his friends run that organization, by the way. And to top things, they had received some major donations from another ghost non-profit organization, which got some decent money from another ghost non-profit organization which belongs to… drum roll, please!" She requested and fox tapped his claws on the table. "Anastasia Reynolds!" She announced and connected the two with a string. Nick just stared at it in silence.

"No way."

"Way."

"No freaking…"

"I checked millions times, Nick," she protested.

"Carrots, you're not saying that Anastasia Reynolds sponsored both Ketchikan and Heveryn…"

"And she also delivered the affair materials to Sunny Daily. One of major Heveryn's contributors on that list is also an Editor in Chief of Sunny Daily. She sponsored both of them; that's exactly what I'm trying to say," the bunny assured and fox stared at the board with astonishment. He sat down on the couch, grabbed a slice of pizza and was putting all the pieces together. Judy sat by him and grabbed another slice as well. These were ridiculously good.

"Actually, that's rather brilliant," the fox admitted. "She was funding both sides, which meant she controlled the flow of elections. While Ketchikan was winning at first, the fake affair almost costed him the victory…"

"And this must have been Anastasia Reynolds intention," Judy concluded. "After that thing, no one believed that he'd manage to win nonetheless."

"The question is, why?" Nick asked. "Ketchikan's friend of Reynolds, everyone knows that. Why to ditch him like that?"

"Maybe it doesn't apply to Anastasia?" Judy asked, not really convinced.

"She wouldn't be funding his campaign openly."

"Maybe Ketchikan's political ambitions don't match hers?" She guessed again.

"She'll have an ally in him in any investment she'll make, just like she had in last two years," Nick disagreed.

"Then maybe an ally is not what she needed? Maybe she needed a pawn instead?" The bunny tried for the third time. "If Heveryn won, Anastasia would be in a great position to lobby him, given the effort she made to install him there. She certainly has some hooks on him. Ketchikan, on the other hand, is too experienced of a politician to be manipulated like that," she suggested and Nick liked the idea too.

"Heveryn did appear in Young's documents several times, although without much of context. But then again, we now know that Young's documents were lacking…"

"And someone else could be holding the rest. Anastasia, for example," Judy finished for him. They watched the board and then turned at each other. "Do you think… There really are more documents like the ones Spencer got?" She wondered.

"Maybe there are. His Manifesto said it itself; the thing was incomplete and lacking at times. But whatever he missed, could have been destroyed long time ago," Nick pointed out.

"True," Judy agreed with concern. After what happened with her father and his name, Anastasia Reynolds would probably be wiser than keeping this sort of incriminating documents.

"So…We've found quite a lot, but nothing really illegal, even if morally questionable," Hopps pointed out.

"And I doubt if we're finding anything more around mayoral elections."

"Yeah… Lots of work for nothing, isn't it? We thought that she was planning some sort of coup d'etat and…" Judy said with regrets.

"And she really was, but she acted rather carefully and smartly. Even if she failed," Nick disagreed. "We've found the truth. If one day, it could do some good, we'll reveal it. And for now, we'll keep watching her paws, just in case she tries something sketchy again. What do you say, Carrots?" he smiled encouragingly and she returned it.

"We will be watching her," she promised and then, watched the board again. "I wonder… Was this how Zachary Young started his search? A pin board and photos?"

"He started with death of his wife and concluded with death of his own. Let's make sure none of these befalls us," Nick replied gloomily and Judy shivered. They knew Anastasia Reynolds personally and two years earlier, such a thought would seem ridiculous. But now they knew the true nature of her father and saw clearly that she had chosen a similar path.

"It will not," Judy moved a bit closer to him and leaned with her head against his shoulder. "If I have any saying in here, none of this will repeat. No more bloodshed," she promised. Nick ruffled fur of her head playfully.

"No more bloodshed."